Lumia 950 vs competitors

[astondg]

It's time to replace my Lumina 920 and I've been waiting for Windows 10 Mobile but at the same time I like to evaluate everything that's available. I like Windows Phone and the Windows 10 platform but I don't like being tied to a platform without reason.

So I put together a, highly subjective, look at the 950 and it's competitors (or at least the ones I have access to) and I thought you guys might like to see it too. At least it might be a conversation point/starter.

Some notes on the subjectiveness
1. Prices are AUD retail
2. I like a smaller phone, 5" is really bigger than I'd like but I'm willing to go there for the right phone
3. One thing that really concerns me is syncing my digital services between devices, particularly desktop & phone. So things like files, music, etc. which I do now with OneDrive, Office, Groove, Cortana, etc. Microsoft seems very good in this regard, I'm not limited to a platform.
4. I'm keen to have an OLED display
5. I marked Cortana down, compared to Google Now, because it's more limited in Australia (even using the US region 'hack' some things don't work).

	LG G4	Apple iPhone 6S	Nexus 5X	Sony Xperia Z5 Compact	Galaxy S6	Lumia 950
RRP	$764	$1229	$739	$849	$888	$999
Dimensions	149.1x75.3x8.9	138.3x67.1x7.1	147.0x72.6x7.9	127.0x65.0x8.9	143.4x70.5x6.8	145x73.2x8.2
Weight	152g	143g	136g	138g	138g	150g
Price weighting	5	1	5	4	4	3
Size weighting	1	4	2	5	3	2
Camera	5	4	4	5	4	5
Battery life	3	4	5	5	3	5
Screen	4	4	4	4	5	5
Assistant (GN/Siri/Cortana)	5	4	5	5	5	4
Device & service integration	4	3	4	4	4	5
Convenience features (Glance, wireless charging, etc.)	5	4	4	4	5	5
Support (future updates, etc.)	3	5	5	3	4	5
Total	35	33	38	39	37	39

 

[astondg]

So by my reckoning the 950 stacks up pretty well and preorders opened today in Australia so I've locked one in. I have until the 8th of December to change my mind.

I'm still seriously considering an Xperia Z5 Compact or Nexus 5X though, mostly for the size (Z5), a digital assistant that works properly in my region (Google Now) and possibility of Android Wear. Oh, and my impatience, I can get these now.

Pulling me back to the 950 are the desktop & mobile integration coming in Threshold, the camera & the OLED display.

 

[DCProjMgr]

It sounds like we have similar taste for less than gigantic phones. I have considered these phones and played with them (except for the 950).

Let's be OS agnostic and just consider the phones themselves. Here are some thoughts:

There are two phones on this list that are in a category of their own - the iPhone 6s and the Sony X5 Compact. They are the only current sub-five inch high-end phones in the world. They are also both arguably overpriced, unfortunately. You can mitigate that in the iPhone by getting last year's model which was also an excellent phone and practically the same. That wouldn't be a good strategy with the Sony; last year's Z3 Compact glass body was beautiful but predictably fragile. The Z5, however is improved in almost every aspect, especially the camera.

Then we come to the phones that I would classify just as "big", with 5 or 5.1 inch screens. In this class the standout is the Samsung S6 - the best phone Samsung has probably ever put out. Typically Samsungs have great features and specs, but not the best camera or build quality. The S6 breaks the curse - it is a beautiful phone, feels great in the hand and excels in every area. The S6 Edge adds even more striking looks (but is functionally the same phone) for more money. Speaking of cost, check current prices. Here in the US the phone is now 6 months old and prices are falling.

The Nexus 5X deserves a look. The build is mid-range, but the performance is high class. It's probably the most bang for the buck on your list.

The LG G4 is a very big phone. It's also nearly a year old. It's beautiful, but at this point there are better choices.

That brings us to the Lumia 950. I haven't handled it, but on paper it is straddling the border between big and very big. It's got lots of power and should have a camera that can challenge any of the other 2015 models. But the size makes me pause.

But when talking about the 950, we really have to throw away the whole "platform agnostic" rule. The point of the phone is that it is the only phone that brings full Windows 10 Mobile with Continuum. That's the primary selling point. And if you want that, your only choices are the 950, 950XL, or wait until late spring at least to see what else comes out.

 

[benj0219]

The z5 compact disappointed me regarding photo quality and I have sold it again. The iPhone does not have the specs to impress but I have always been able to get good photos from them. Even it wasn't too bad I wasn't either impressed by the plastic frame of the z5 compact. Combined with the thickness of it, it didn't live up to its price tag. The S6 have impressed me alot altogether. The camera for example starts up immediately something that was a problem on the z5.

 

[BBMINI]

I've been doing similar comparisons recently, so thanks for the post. I've been expecting and planning to upgrade from my Lumia 928 to a 950, but with Microsoft's recent actions around OneDrive, I've decided they truly don't care about Windows Phone and basically plan to let it go the way of BlackBerry. Even as deeply invested in, and enthusiastic about, the MS ecosystem as I am (Office365, Outlook.com, heavy Skype user, Band wearer, 928, W10 tablet, OneNote enthusiast, Xbox music subscriber, etc.), I've decided to go Android with my next phone purchase. I'm currently leaning toward the G4 mainly because Verizon has it $100 on sale and LG is offering a $200 rebate as well. The G4 is a bigger phone than I typically like and it's also a bit older, as others have mentioned, but since the MS OneDrive announcements effectively killed any WP momentum I thought they were building, and since I don't know when VZW will get the 950, I've decided it's time to stop beating the WP dead horse and just move away from WP altogether, unfortunately. And, ironically enough, my being able to move to an Android phone is totally made possible by the fact that MS offers all of its apps and services I use on my 928 for Android, so I'll still be able to use the MS ecosystem but just not on a WP anymore.

I'm still also totally dumbfounded by why MS made the OD changes they did, especially with all the recent new gadgets they announced in October which all rely on OneDrive as the connecting "hub". Seems like such a huge strategy error to me. And even though I'm a subscriber to O365 and will still have 1TB of OD space, their move still really annoys me and reveals that they don't intend to try to make WP a real competitor in the phone market and that they don't really care about individual users anymore. I lived through the slow demise of BlackBerry while I used 3-4 of their phones and I simply don't want to go through it again with WP, especially if it's now clear to me that MS doesn't appreciate WP user support anyway, so now's my opportunity to finally move to a phone that will always be included when ads say "Download our app!" rather than my automatically assuming that those apps aren't available for WP. It's disappointing for me to be thinking all this, but I really just don't think WP has a viable future ahead of it. :unhappy:

 

[tgp]

I'm currently leaning toward the G4 mainly because Verizon has it $100 on sale and LG is offering a $200 rebate as well.

Just a little tip that has nothing to do with the topic: you can now get the G4 for free on Verizon. Retail price is $552. The LGG4SAVE code will give you $100 off (online only). If you set it up on the finance plan you can get $300 off for trading in an old phone. (If you have an old piece of garbage that at least starts, it probably qualifies. Otherwise you can go to Best Buy and buy a $10 prepaid Android phone and use that.) And then, LG has a $200 rebate.

$552 - $100 - $300 - $200 = -$48

This all needs to be done by the 15th I believe, which is Sunday.

 

[BBMINI]

If you set it up on the finance plan you can get $300 off for trading in an old phone.
This all needs to be done by the 15th I believe, which is Sunday.

Doesn't the $300 trade-in only apply to new lines added to an account, though? I had seen that promotion as well but it excludes upgrades. And, yes, you're right about the timing of the offers ending this weekend.

I did, however, receive an email from VZW today that says "Get $100 off of any smartphone. Yes, even iPhone." I haven't looked into it very much, and maybe it was only sent to people who are due for an upgrade, but thought I'd mention that that offer is out there as well.

 

[tgp]

Doesn't the $300 trade-in only apply to new lines added to an account, though? I had seen that promotion as well but it excludes upgrades.

Ah yes you're correct. You should still be able to get the $100 and $200 rebates though.

 

[astondg]

I've been doing similar comparisons recently, so thanks for the post. I've been expecting and planning to upgrade from my Lumia 928 to a 950, but with Microsoft's recent actions around OneDrive, I've decided they truly don't care about Windows Phone and basically plan to let it go the way of BlackBerry.

I don't see the OneDrive move as a direct threat to Windows mobile. I dislike what they did, taking away space from existing users, but the 5GB you get now is still inline with what Apple offers on iCloud and it's more than Dropbox and some other cloud storage services offer. It's only Google that offers more for free. I.e. for new signups OneDrive is still competitive on space and features.

And for me I'll still be using OneDrive, and all the other MS services, on Android if I switched anyway. I like the features it offers and the convenience of the integration with my Windows desktop.

 

[Narr]

I wasn't sure if you'd included the security features, iPhone and Nexus have the fingerprint technology whilst the Lumia 950 has Windows Hello and the ability to secure the phone with an iris scan; this will be a personal preference to whatever comes out tops (and Australia is slightly warmer than Europe) but the fingerprint scanner isn't too smart with gloves on.

 

[Chrishan Fernando]

i see only App Gap between these devices

 

[BBMINI]

but the 5GB you get now is still inline with what Apple offers on iCloud and it's more than Dropbox and some other cloud storage services offer.

Right. I agree that the changes they made resulted in an offering that's now more "in line" with the competition, but it seems to me that if WP is ever going to gain any real market share then Microsoft will have to position WP as being far more than just competitive. I had really thought they were starting to do that with the camera roll bonus storage + free 15GB of storage for WP users, especially when combined with OneDrive's great functionality and some legitimate excitement around Surface products, continuum, etc., so then to kill most of the storage for WP users while also raising the hurdle to becoming an entrenched user of Microsoft's other products (via killing the other tiers of OneDrive options and reducing O365 subscriber storage) just seemed very much at odds with any intention they might have had to keep their momentum going and growing. So unless MS is wanting/planning to become a niche player that maybe just focuses on enterprise users in combination with Office365 Business subscriptions, I think they'll need to offer more incentive for individual users to switch to WP than having their main marketing message being "we offer as much cloud storage as the other guys". Since they already weren't having much WP success when they offered much more free storage than the other guys, it seems a bit like they've thrown in the towel on WP when they decided to slash the storage and effectively change the WP value proposition to "we don't really offer anything more/different/better than what you'll get with iPhone or Android, but we sure hope you buy our phones anyway".